Steve Nash announced his retirement from the NBA in a first-person essay in The Players Tribune on Saturday. Nash played 18 years in the league.
Steve Nash is calling it quits.
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The legendary NBA point guard officially announced his retirement from the NBA in a first-person essay in The Players’ Tribune on Saturday.
Nash spends much of the lengthy and well-written essay thanking those that have helped him along the way. He also makes clear that he will badly miss the game that has been such a huge part of his life for so long.
"I will likely never play basketball again. It’s bittersweet. I already miss the game deeply, but I’m also really excited to learn to do something else. This letter is for anyone who’s taken note of my career. At the heart of this letter, I’m speaking to kids everywhere who have no idea what the future holds or how to take charge of their place in it. When I think of my career, I can’t help but think of the kid with his ball, falling in love. That’s still what I identify with and did so throughout my entire story."
While it’s sad to see Nash go, this is the right time for him to retire. As he’s moved into his 40s, his body has started to betray him and he could no longer stay on the court. He played just 15 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in the past two seasons.
Although he wasn’t able to end on a high note, Nash will retire as one of the best point guards in NBA history, as he dominated the league during the 2000s while on the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns.
For his career, he averaged 14.3 points, 8.5 assists and three rebounds per game. He made eight all-star games and was awarded the NBA’s MVP award twice.
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